Science Programme Manager, Moors for the Future Partnership
Based in Edale, Moors for the Future is dedicated to protecting and restoring blanket bog across the Peak District and South Pennines. Since 2003 it has transformed over 32 sq km of degraded peat. moorsforthefuture.org.uk
“THE SCOTTISH OUTDOOR ACCESS CODE ADVISES AVOIDING MAKING FIRES IN FORESTRY, WOODLANDS, FARMLANDS OR PEAT”
“Wildfires pose a large threat to blanket bog. The soil contains a lot of vegetation which isn’t fully decayed so, as well as what’s growing on top, the soil itself can catch fire. Almost everything down to the rock underneath, which can be three or four metres below, is a potential fuel source. In this changing climate, where everything is getting drier or more extreme, it’s an increasing threat.
“You need oxygen, fuel and an ignition source to make fire, so we address the last two. A lot of our work looks at helping degraded moorlands to recover, which means changing it to a wetter, more biodiverse state.
“Large parts of the Peak District and South Pennines suffered from industrial pollution in the past, which, along with wildfires, killed off a lot of vegetation, so you end up with big bare peat areas. We plant them up with grasses and other native moorland species which knit the surface together, helping to prevent erosion and protecting the water in the peat from evaporation. We also plant native bog species, such as sphagnum, which retain water for a long time. All of this makes the peat and the vegetation less flammable.
“Once we’ve got the vegetation back, we do things like gully blocking, putting piles of stone or wooden panels in the gullies to hold the water back and raising the water table. Keeping the peat wet can also slow the flow of water off the hillside. Unchecked flows of water can flood communities downstream, as we saw
in Fishlake near Doncaster at the end of last year.
“The uplands can be viewed as quite a bleak area but they’re a key habitat. Blanket bogs have a unique biodiversity and the species there are found in very few other places in the country, or even the continent.
“Healthy bogs are wetland habitats, even though they’re on the tops of hills. They also feature a good mix of different species. Conversely, a more degraded bog might host one or two species of plant which really dominate the landscape – often grass or heather. Degraded bogs are also quite dry, which are easy to walk across but not so good for the ecosystem, and they’re more vulnerable to fire and erosion.
“There are around 10 million people within an hour’s travel and many of them are simply unaware of how flammable the landscape can get. Disposable barbecues and discarded cigarettes can sit and smoulder before building into a full-blown fire. That’s a big threat, particularly during drier months.”